Just keep smiling 💋

Month: October 2015

Staying on the topic of Disney and princesses, here are 35 cocktails you just have to try making……any excuse for a princess party! You can find more great ideas on the creators Facebook page “cocktails by Cody”. Cheers to that!

The last half a decade has seen the huge revival of Disney, (need I mention Frozen) and has thrown those amazing classics back into the limelight.

The first Disney Princess to grace our screens was Snow WhiteWAY back in 1937, which might have been followed by more films sooner if not for WWII from 1939-1945, a period distinctly lacking in princesses off to balls as nearly all women were donning boiler suits and supporting the war.

The initial boom was in the 1950s with Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953) and Sleeping Beauty creating the four cornerstones of the Disney classics.

The second wave of Disney Princess films came unsurprisingly after the end of another war- the Cold War, with The Little Mermaid shown the same year as the final uprisings in Eastern Europe against the communist regimes in 1989. Beauty and the Beast marked the year of the formal dissolution of the USSR in 1991 (if you don’t know what USSR is- Google it. It’s very significant to current European events). Aladdin followed in 1992 and from 1995 there was one each year: Pocahontas, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan and Tarzan wrapping up the century in 1999.

It wasn’t until a decade after in 2009 that we saw the next Disney Princess film, The Princess and the Frog with the first non-white leading lady (about time- #princesses for equality! Mulan, Jasmine and Pocahontas still all had white skin…you get the point I’m trying to make). Welcomed back like the return of a prodigal son (or daughter), Disney powered through on their new found wave of support producing Tangled (2010), Brave (2012) and the big one- FROZEN in 2013.

So the last half a decade has seen the revival of Disney Princesses in a big way, it’s not just for kids any more, or rather those people who were kids in the 90s are still loving being a princess well into their twenties. Buzz feed, Etsy and generally the whole retail world has catered to every adult princess’s needs (dresses, quizzes, hairstyles, jewellery etc etc etc) 👗💄💍👛👑

Amid this new acceptance of “adult princesses” there have been a number of beautiful re-imaging of the classics. I was totally enchanted by the recent drawings by Jurka Vinse Jonatan Vaatainen, a Finn who studied at Bournemouth Uni, reimagining what Disney characters would look like in real like. Just stunning. Secretly you know you see yourself as one of them 😋👗👑🦄

Japanese designer Jiro Miura has created an adorable collection of animal rings that curl around your fingers! You can find the entire collection on his blog page Count Blue.

They cost anything between $15 to $200 and if you’re thinking “that’s a bit much for an unpractical ring” I repeat…THERE ARE TINY ANIMALS WRAPPED ROUND YOUR FINGERS!

If rings aren’t your thing then don’t fear…he makes other types of animal jewellery (animal shaped jewellery, not jewellery for animals or jewellery made out of animals) 🙀

Cue the hedgehog earings!

If you can’t access Jiro’s blog page to order items because it’s all in Japanese and you’re computer can’t handle translating, then you can find his items on Etsy. Mishakrisha sells rings for £3.40 and while you are there, check out the time turner necklace for the same price! Harry Potter love 💗

And if you are being sensible and want slightly more practical jewellery then check out Cuir Carameliser for beautiful pieces like this gold hedgehog with a blue back.

As Harry Potter continues to take over the world (not a bad thing) this is the latest product I am excited about, the new iBooks that allows you to dive deeper into the magical wizarding world of the Harry Potter Universe.⚡️🚂🐀🐾📕📗📘📙📓📚📖

Harry Potter Exclusive Enhanced Editions can be bought from iTunes for £6.99 and despite already having a copy or two of each book, I have to admit I am tempted. Surely reading Harry Potter counts as education and so this is like investing in a textbook (that’s my justification anyway).

Thirteen years since the publication of the Philosopher’s Stone and eight years since the final Deathly Hallows, this seems to be the first reinvention of the books.

“BUT HARRY POTTER DOES NOT NEED REINVENTING!” I hear you cry!

Quite so, but this electronic version doesn’t try to update the book or change anything, they simply add the world of HP and help you fall further under its spell.

New illustrations and animations bring that world we all secretly wish we lived in seem just a little closer, showing those magical scenes we wish made it into the films, while still leaving plenty of room for your imagination to fill in any gaps.

I can’t decide if these books are for original Harry Potter fans to devour and engross themselves in even further (we always want more HP), or if they are for the next generation that I fear have replaced good old paper books with an electronic screen and whose library is contained within a small black device, instead of row upon row of books.

What do we do now with no Pretty Little Liars in our lives after the season finale and how do we fill the massive gap it has left in our lives?! You truly know your life is blessed if this is one of the daily problems you face…but still HOW DID I LIVE IN A PRE PLL WORLD?!

PLL lovers, whichever girl you were (I was Hannah) I am so pleased to inform you that there is a life after PLL!

Apart from reading the mountain of articles now published debating the conclusion, what questions were left unanswered, alternative plot outcomes and what will happen next, I have turned back to Netflix in desperate hope of finding something that can meet my required daily dose of drama and dresses.

Netflix did not disappoint.

Firstly if you have not watched Gossip Girl then GO AND WATCH IT IMMEDIATELY! (But don’t if you have a big project to do….there is a high likelihood you will lock yourself away in your room and bite the head off anyone who suggests you: go out/ work/ sleep/ eat/ or DO anything that takes you away from your GG cocoon)

I mean four girls looking fabulous? Somebody worked out this dynamite formula long ago….Gossip Girl got the ball rolling, PLL took it to the next level and it just gets better with the new series I found.

Let me introduce you to my new obsession: Reign

An American fantasy historical romance about Mary Queen of Scots life after moving to France to be married to the French Dauphin and all the dramatic events in Europe in the 1500s. But if you wanted a historically accurate drama then this is not it…the only thing that is correct is the names of the characters. According to this drama the Tudors were well versed in slang and had bra underwiring, elastic, high heels and respect for girls’ honour (by the King of all people!)

BUT IT HAS THE BEST DRESSES EVER!!!! So we forgive it the MASSIVE historical flaws.

Mix Gossip Girl, PLL and the Tudors and you’ve got Reign and Adelaide Kane who plays Mary, has the style prowess of the Duchess of Cambridge, who you wouldn’t be surprised to see wearing one of these dresses…and here’s photographic evidence.

And don’t even get me started on the wedding dresses.

So these dresses are Kate Middleton worthy and we would do anything to get our hands on one of these unique pieces…hang on, did the Internet just say we can buy these?

Just to clarify…Internet, you say we can BUY the dresses of PLL, Gossip Girl and Reign?

I could easily live in coffee shops, if it weren’t for the calories and price, cake and yummy drinks would constitute the majority of my diet. I’ve been gluten free for a decade and so am always on the look out for GF friendly cafes…and please STOP displaying the calories in everything; ignorance was bliss 😔🐷 Little-piggy-me!

In my head I am not an “adult” until I drink plain filter coffee…so it’s only mocha-frappe-smoothie with cream goodies for me!

Latest was a Starbucks Chai iced tea (in an attempt to hide from caffeine) which was so yummy and very photo-worthy. Really creamy with a hint of mulled wine, it’s light and refreshing (and a little healthier, which I made obsolete by having a GF Honeybuns millionaire shortbread!)

I regret nothing.p

If you’re trying to save the monetary pounds and lose the weight pounds then make yourself this brilliant creation of my friends! Blend ice, banana and blueberries…that’s it! Give it that coffee shop feel by putting it in a smoothie jar/glass with a pretty straw (Paperchase and Not-on-the-high-street)

Earlier this year caffeine found me…hello mocha smoothie and GF brownie at Bean Around The World, I did slip into a caffeine coma afterwards….

ANIMAL SOCKS!!! Nothing could be more adorable and make your day by wearing these bad boys! Totally-worth-it shopping, if like me you have desperately trying curb your shopping addiction, this is guilt free like a 0 calorie cake you can enjoy!

I love shopping and I love vintage so it was no surprise that I had marked Lou Lou’s Vintage Fair in Southampton Guildhall weeks in advance. Entry only cost £2 (which is less than a coffee) so this counted as a guilt free way to spend a beautiful afternoon.

There were about 20 stalls there selling everything from jewellery to jumpsuits, with jazz music playing through the speakers and a tea and homemade cake pop up cafe in case you need to rest (shopping is a sport).

Quite aware than I could empty my bank account in the space of the afternoon if my spending was not kept on a short leash, I took out £30 and mentally cut up my bank cards, when down to my last £5 I would have to decide between cake or one last trinket (first world problems…a girl should never have to choose between cake OR something, cake is very much a word that goes with AND…)

20 stalls would be too much to review, hard to believe but it didn’t seem right to write more than I had for academic papers, so I chose my favourite three that I HAD to buy something from.

Forage and Find is a mother daughter team who create beautiful jewellery from vintage items and present them on old photos and postcards and look so beautiful I could have bought every item!

Check out their website http://www.forageandfind.co.uk but be prepared to spend money, I challenge you to resist. Or visit their stall on Winchester High Street every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month.

My favourite pieces were the lockets and necklaces made from vintage clock parts 💗🕒

If you like original vintage items then Little old me vintage is a shop to visit, selling everything from lighters, cufflinks, cameras and jewellery sets as well as handmade necklaces incorporating glass and flowers.

Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland, Great Gatsby and James Bond, these are just some of the themes you can find at Little Treasures, handmade vintage inspired costume jewellery made by a pair of friends. You will find something you love here and if you fight the urge to buy something for yourself, you will cave and buy someone a gift, either way have a look at their website http://www.lovelittletreasures.com